Cremation, Caste, and Cosmogony in Karmic Traditions.

Hindus pray in temples and Muslims in mosques, and if
one approaches the Muslim gods one has to pray in
mosques. However, since there is only one God there is
no need for praying to the Muslim counterpart if one has
prayed to a Hindu divinity.
According to both the Hindus and Muslims I
interviewed, the reason why the gods correspond to each
other in the respective religions is the fact that all
Muslims were Hindus before they converted to Islam.
The co-existence of the religions has continued, and the
Hindu worldview is deeply rooted in the Muslims’
worldview. Even Muslims in their poverty and helpless
state of despair seek help from Kali when their lives are
in danger, and if Kali saves them, then they may
sacrifice a goat in one of her temples. This does not
mean that Kali is more powerful than Fatima, but only
that in this particular case Kali was more sufficient and
efficient as a problem solver. When Muslims make
sacrifices in Kali temples they are not worshipping
Fatima, but only the Kali manifestation of the divine
power. If Muslims make commitments and promise
penances to Kali, then they have to fulfil their wows.
Thus, instead of giving their own lives in return to Kali,
Muslims may give another life by sacrificing a goat. In
one case, a Muslim man promised Kali that if his son
recovered from a fatal sickness, then he would sacrifice
a goat. The son recovered, and the Muslim provided the
goat. Unfortunately, the goat died naturally in the temple
the night before the sacrifice, but since it is the personal
commitment to the goddess that matters, it was
religiously interpreted and agreed upon that he had
fulfilled his promises by the donation of the goat to the
temple the day before the sacrifice.
Outside Rajbari town, the neighbouring town of
Faridpur, Muslims living by the riverside are also
committed to the river. The pray and make sacrifices to
Ganga trying to control the forthcoming flood, for the
avoidance of diseases, and for the protection from winter
storms when fishing. If Ganga saves them after they
have prayed to the river goddess, then they may offer
coconuts, salt, and rice in accordance with their
promises. Only Muslims live on the south side of the
river, whereas on the northern side there are Hindus too,
and the Hindus may also sacrifice goats in the name of
Ganga. The Muslims living along this part of the
riverside do not give blood sacrifices to Ganga, and Kali
is in general less important for these Muslims.
According to them, when they pray and make offerings
to Ganga, they follow the Muslim religious codex for
worship. There are, however, great local and regional
differences. Along other parts of Ganga’s riverside
Muslims worship Kali as well, and it is their personal
commitment and interpretation of the religious world
that decide to which extent the Hindu Parthenon of Gods
and Goddesses are included in the Muslim religion.
The Muslim divine gallery and worldview are
incorporated in accordance with both personal
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experiences and motives. The work of culture
(Obeyesekere 1990) is the process whereby symbolic
forms existing on the cultural level get created and
recreated through the minds of people. Obeyesekere
limits psychoanalysis in cultural anthropology to
understanding the interrelationship between deep
motivation and culture (ibid:xix-xx). The importance is
that Kali and Ganga are goddesses somehow irrespective
of the labels “Hindu” and “Muslim” and they are
incorporated into a shared Hindu-environmental culture,
which is seen as unproblematic for both parts. In fact,
the syncretism transcends the goddesses and may
include other spheres of devotional paths.
The Gopal Krishna Temple in Faridpur was established
in 1965, and the ashram is a part of the worldwide Hare
Krishna mission. Mohadheb Chakrabarti is a Hindu
sadhu residing in the ashram, and he works as a healer
due to his spiritual power. Chakrabarti has been working
in the Krishna ashram for forty-five years, but he lives in
his house in Madanga village six kilometres from the
ashram. He got his spiritual powers ten years ago
(around 1992), and now he is healing both Hindus and
Muslims. The sadhu also blesses wealthy people since
they believe it is auspicious and good for their business,
although the majority of the devotees are poor and needy
people. Everyone from the sweepers to Brahmans,
magistrates, and policemen, take his services, blessings,
and healing.
Mohadheb Chakrabarti is renowned in the city for his
powers, which he claims he received directly from Kali
in particular and Shiva in general, to whom he prays to
maintain his spiritual powers. Although he received his
power from Kali, he resides in a Krishna ashram because
Krishna appears in multiple forms, and Krishna is one of
the forms of Kali. Worshipping in a Krishna temple is
therefore the same as praying in a Kali temple.
Everything is Kali. Kali gives him directions for what
kind of medicine he shall use for a specific purpose and
sickness, and he is only healing on Tuesdays and
Saturdays. These are the days of Kali, and both Kali and
Shiva are awake and available then. They do not sleep
throughout the night, and the devotees may reach them
by their prayers. Sundays and Thursdays are fruitless
days and one may not expect anything from the
goddesses, Wednesday is the day of Durga, and Monday
is the day off for Kali and Shiva when they relax with
each other, and nobody can be released from sin or
diseases on this day. On Friday all the gods and
goddesses are awake, but since it is the holiday for the
Muslims, Chakrabarti also takes the day off and keeps
the public holiday.
As indicated, also Brahman priests acknowledge that
Kali and Fatima are equal Mothers of the world for
Hindus and Muslims respectively, and that their
husbands are Shiva and Ali. This shared understanding
of how the world is linked together might be an entrance
to an understanding of why the role of Brahmans as